Top 5 things we learnt from the 2023 Portimao Test

So that’s it, 2023 pre-season testing is officially in the history books. Five fascinating days in Sepang and two days in Portimao have been and gone, but what did we learn from the final two days of action at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve?

Here’s the top five things we learnt as Round 1 of the 2023 season appears over the horizon: 

A total of 12 riders were able to beat the previous Portimao lap record held by reigning World Champion Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team). However, only one person was able to set a 1:37s lap time across the two days of testing – and it was the #1 plated 2022 King. A scintillating 1:37.968 put Pecco 0.296s clear of second fastest Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac Racing), as he and Ducati laid down the gauntlet to the chasing pack.

“We are ready” were three words that signalled it’s all systems go for Bagnaia and Ducati heading to Round 1. Unlike last year’s problematic pre-season, Pecco heads into the year with a settled Desmosedici GP23 that he admits has been designed a little bit around his riding style.

The Italian marque in general look to have got things right ahead of the 2023 season, with Luca Marini, his Mooney VR46 Racing Team teammate Marco Bezzecchi, Enea Bastianini (Ducati Lenovo Team), Alex Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP™) and Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) all inside the top 10 in Portimao. Those names are going to be fighting up the sharp end a lot throughout the year.

Ducati won’t have it all their own way though. For much of pre-season, 2021 World Champion Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™) cut a frustrated figure. On one hand, Yamaha had found the extra horsepower they were craving from their 2023 engine. That was hugely encouraging. On the other hand, soft tyre pace was nowhere to be seen.

At the end of the penultimate day, this was still a massive issue. But gains were found on the final day of testing, with Quartararo and Yamaha basically going backwards to make a step forwards. 2021 set-ups helped pave the way for Quartararo to claim P3 on the timesheets, which is a much-needed boost heading into the new campaign. His Sprint simulation was right up there with the best as well, so there will be an air of relief on Quartararo’s side of the Monster Energy Yamaha box.

The vibes radiating from the Noale camp have been positive throughout testing. Raul Fernandez and Miguel Oliveira are enjoying themselves on the RNF MotoGP™ Team painted RS-GPs, while Aprilia Racing factory duo Aleix Espargaro and Maverick Viñales continued to praise their 2023 upgrades.

There will be a slight worry regarding Aleix Espargaro after he experienced arm pump in Portimao. We’ll await to see if anything comes from some medical checks back in Barcelona, but the 2022 race winner didn’t sound too unhappy on Sunday. Viñales also experienced some technical problems which disrupted his final day testing schedule, but that didn’t stop Top Gun from oozing confidence heading into Round 1.

P10 for Espargaro, P11 for Viñales, P12 for Oliveira and P16 for Fernandez don’t properly reflect where the Aprilia quartet lie in the early 2023 pecking order. Crashes for the latter duo hampered their final day afternoons too, so expect all four RS-GP riders to be battling at the front in the opening round of 2023.

After a below-par Sepang Test, the Portimao Test is where things started to click for KTM – and just in the nick of time too. Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) climbed up to P9 on the combined timesheets, signalling that progress was being made after a Saturday night “rethink”. 

When listening to Team Manager Francesco Guidotti, the two days in Portimao were all about piecing the 2023 RC16 jigsaw puzzle together. Nothing new was brought to the table for the last two days of testing, it was all about their riders trying to find their own pathway to success. Binder’s time attack lap was a welcome boost, and one that showed they are much closer to where they want to be. 

Jack Miller’s Red Bull KTM Factory Racing adaptation might look to be slow progress from the timesheets, but the Australian didn’t sound too despondent at the end of testing. A lot of things have been tested, now it’s about working out how to extract everything from his new package. To be under a second away from Bagnaia’s incredible lap was a solid way to end his first pre-season as a KTM rider for Miller.

The five days of pre-season testing were massive for Honda. The timesheets don’t make for fantastic reading, and there’s no denying that there’s still plenty of work to be done for MotoGP™’s most successful manufacturer, as mentioned by Repsol Honda Team Manager Alberto Puig, but you get the sense they’re heading in the right direction.

Marc Marquez’s (Repsol Honda Team) return to full fitness is the first huge positive. In his debrief, the eight-time World Champion portrayed that his Sprint simulation went well, and that both he and new teammate Joan Mir are pulling in the same direction.

The sense that Marc Marquez is back is unquestionable. He’s fit, firing and raring to go in 2023, while Mir and Alex Rins’ (LCR Honda Castrol) lap times will fill HRC with confidence. The trio, led by Mir in P13, were split by just 0.020s. Honda aren’t there yet, but it’s certainly not all doom and gloom in the Repsol and LCR garages – there’s a good dose of optimism appearing.

Next up: Round 1 – the Portuguese Grand Prix. Testing has been a compelling watch as always, but the real business is coming.